Pub.L. 107-134 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax relief for victims of the terrorist attacks against the United States, and for other purposes. <> ...

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Public Law 107-133
107th Congress

                                 An Act


 
   To extend and amend the program entitled Promoting Safe and Stable 
Families under title IV-B, subpart 2 of the Social Security Act, and to 
provide new authority to support programs <<NOTE: Jan. 17, 2002 -  [H.R. 
  2873]>> for mentoring children of incarcerated parents; to amend the 
 Foster Care Independent Living program under title IV-E of that Act to 
 provide for educational and training vouchers for youths aging out of 
                  foster care, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Promoting Safe 
and Stable Families Amendments of 2001.>> 

SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 42 USC 1305 note.>> SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting Safe and Stable Families 
Amendments of 2001''.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. References.

               TITLE I--PROMOTING SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES

   Subtitle A--Grants to States for Promoting Safe and Stable Families

Sec. 101. Findings and purpose.
Sec. 102. Definition of family support services.
Sec. 103. Reallotments.
Sec. 104. Payments to States.
Sec. 105. Evaluations, research, and technical assistance.
Sec. 106. Authorization of appropriations; reservation of certain 
           amounts.
Sec. 107. State court improvements.

               Subtitle B--Mentoring Children of Prisoners

Sec. 121. Program authorized.

              TITLE II--FOSTER CARE AND INDEPENDENT LIVING

Sec. 201. Educational and training vouchers for youths aging out of 
           foster care.
Sec. 202. Reallocation and extension of funds.

                        TITLE III--EFFECTIVE DATE

Sec. 301. Effective date.

SEC. 3. REFERENCES.

    Except as otherwise specified in this Act, an amendment made by this 
Act to a section or other provision shall be considered an amendment to 
the section or other provision of the Social Security Act.

[[Page 115 STAT. 2414]]

               TITLE I--PROMOTING SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES

   Subtitle A--Grants to States for Promoting Safe and Stable Families

SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    Section 430 (42 U.S.C. 629) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 430. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    ``(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that there is a continuing 
urgent need to protect children and to strengthen families as 
demonstrated by the following:
            ``(1) Family support programs directed at specific 
        vulnerable populations have had positive effects on parents, 
        children, or both. The vulnerable populations for which programs 
        have been shown to be effective include teenage mothers with 
        very young children and families that have children with special 
        needs.
            ``(2) Family preservation programs have been shown to 
        provide extensive and intensive services to families in crisis.
            ``(3) The time lines established by the Adoption and Safe 
        Families Act of 1997 have made the prompt availability of 
        services to address family problems (and in particular the 
        prompt availability of appropriate services and treatment 
        addressing substance abuse) an important factor in successful 
        family reunification.
            ``(4) The rapid increases in the annual number of adoptions 
        since the enactment of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 
        1997 have created a growing need for postadoption services and 
        for service providers with the particular knowledge and skills 
        required to address the unique issues adoptive families and 
        children may face.

    ``(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this program is to enable States to 
develop and establish, or expand, and to operate coordinated programs of 
community-based family support services, family preservation services, 
time-limited family reunification services, and adoption promotion and 
support services to accomplish the following objectives:
            ``(1) To prevent child maltreatment among families at risk 
        through the provision of supportive family services.
            ``(2) To assure children's safety within the home and 
        preserve intact families in which children have been maltreated, 
        when the family's problems can be addressed effectively.
            ``(3) To address the problems of families whose children 
        have been placed in foster care so that reunification may occur 
        in a safe and stable manner in accordance with the Adoption and 
        Safe Families Act of 1997.
            ``(4) To support adoptive families by providing support 
        services as necessary so that they can make a lifetime 
        commitment to their children.''.

[[Page 115 STAT. 2415]]

SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Inclusion of Infant Safe Haven Programs Among Family 
Preservation Services.--Section 431(a)(1) (42 U.S.C. 629a(a)(1)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (D);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (E) 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(F) infant safe haven programs to provide a way 
                for a parent to safely relinquish a newborn infant at a 
                safe haven designated pursuant to a State law.''.

    (b) Family Support Services.--Section 431(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 
629a(a)(2)) is amended by inserting ``to strengthen parental 
relationships and promote healthy marriages,'' after ``environment,''.

SEC. 103. REALLOTMENTS.

    Section 433 (42 U.S.C. 629c) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(d) Reallotments.--The amount of any allotment to a State under 
this section for any fiscal year that the State certifies to the 
Secretary will not be required for carrying out the State plan under 
section 432 shall be available for reallotment using the allotment 
methodology specified in this section. Any amount so reallotted to a 
State is deemed part of the allotment of the State under the preceding 
provisions of this section.''.

SEC. 104. PAYMENTS TO STATES.

    (a) In General.--Section 434(a) (42 U.S.C. 629d(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (2);
            (2) by striking all that precedes subparagraph (A) of 
        paragraph (1) and inserting the following:

    ``(a) Entitlement.--Each State that has a plan approved under 
section 432 shall be entitled to payment of the lesser of--''; and
            (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph 
        (1) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, and by indenting 
        the provisions 2 ems to the left.

    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 434(b) (42 U.S.C. 629d(b)) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``paragraph (1) or (2)(B) of''; and
                    (B) by striking ``described in this subpart'' and 
                inserting ``under the State plan under section 432''; 
                and
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``subsection (a)(1)'' and 
        inserting ``subsection (a)''.

SEC. 105. EVALUATIONS, RESEARCH, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

    Section 435 (42 U.S.C. 629e) is amended--
            (1) by striking all that precedes ``the effectiveness'' in 
        paragraph (1) of subsection (a), including the heading for 
        section 435 and the caption for subsection (a), and inserting 
        the following:

``SEC. 435. EVALUATIONS; RESEARCH; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

    ``(a) Evaluations.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall evaluate and report 
        to the Congress biennially on'';
            (2) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the following:

[[Page 115 STAT. 2416]]

            ``(3) <<NOTE: Deadline.>> Timing of report.--Beginning in 
        2003, the Secretary shall submit the biennial report required by 
        this subsection not later than April 1 of every other year, and 
        shall include in each such report the funding level, the status 
        of ongoing evaluations, findings to date, and the nature of any 
        technical assistance provided to States under subsection (d).''; 
        and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:

    ``(c) Research.--The Secretary shall give priority consideration to 
the following topics for research and evaluation under this subsection, 
using rigorous evaluation methodologies where feasible:
            ``(1) Promising program models in the service categories 
        specified in section 430(b), particularly time-limited 
        reunification services and postadoption services.
            ``(2) Multi-disciplinary service models designed to address 
        parental substance abuse and to reduce its impacts on children.
            ``(3) The efficacy of approaches directed at families with 
        specific problems and with children of specific age ranges.
            ``(4) The outcomes of adoptions finalized after enactment of 
        the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

    ``(d) Technical Assistance.--To the extent funds are available 
therefor, the Secretary shall provide technical assistance that helps 
States and Indian tribes to--
            ``(1) develop research-based protocols for identifying 
        families at risk of abuse and neglect of use in the field;
            ``(2) develop treatment models that address the needs of 
        families at risk, particularly families with substance abuse 
        issues;
            ``(3) implement programs with well-articulated theories of 
        how the intervention will result in desired changes among 
        families at risk;
            ``(4) establish mechanisms to ensure that service provision 
        matches the treatment model; and
            ``(5) establish mechanisms to ensure that postadoption 
        services meet the needs of the individual families and develop 
        models to reduce the disruption rates of adoption.''.

SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; RESERVATION OF CERTAIN 
            AMOUNTS.

    (a) Mandatory Funding.--
            (1) In general.--Subpart 2 of part B of title IV (42 U.S.C. 
        629-629e) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 436. <<NOTE: 42 USC 629f.>> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; 
            RESERVATION OF CERTAIN AMOUNTS.

    ``(a) Authorization.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
carry out the provisions of this subpart $305,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2002 through 2006.
    ``(b) Reservation of Certain Amounts.--From the amount specified in 
subsection (a) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve amounts as 
follows:
            ``(1) Evaluation, research, training, and technical 
        assistance.--The Secretary shall reserve $6,000,000 for 
        expenditure by the Secretary--
                    ``(A) for research, training, and technical 
                assistance costs related to the program under this 
                subpart; and
                    ``(B) for evaluation of State programs based on the 
                plans approved under section 432 and funded under this 
                subpart, and any other Federal, State, or local program,

[[Page 115 STAT. 2417]]

                regardless of whether federally assisted, that is 
                designed to achieve the same purposes as the State 
                programs.
            ``(2) State court improvements.--The Secretary shall reserve 
        $10,000,000 for grants under section 438.
            ``(3) Indian tribes.--The Secretary shall reserve 1 percent 
        for allotment to Indian tribes in accordance with section 
        433(a).''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Section 433 (42 U.S.C. 629c) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``section 
                430(d)(3)'' and inserting ``section 436(b)(3)'';
                    (B) in subsection (b)--
                          (i) by striking ``section 430(b)'' and 
                      inserting ``section 436(a)''; and
                          (ii) by striking ``section 430(d)'' and 
                      inserting ``section 436(b)''; and
                    (C) in subsection (c)(1)--
                          (i) by striking ``section 430(b)'' and 
                      inserting ``section 436(a)''; and
                          (ii) by striking ``section 430(d)'' and 
                      inserting ``section 436(b)''.

    (b) Discretionary Funding.--Subpart 2 of part B of title IV (42 
U.S.C. 629-629e) is further amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 437. <<NOTE: 42 USC 629g.>> DISCRETIONARY GRANTS.

    ``(a) Limitations on Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition 
to any amount appropriated pursuant to section 436, there are authorized 
to be appropriated to carry out this section $200,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2002 through 2006.
    ``(b) Reservation of Certain Amounts.--From the amount (if any) 
appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) for a fiscal year, the Secretary 
shall reserve amounts as follows:
            ``(1) Evaluation, research, training, and technical 
        assistance.--The Secretary shall reserve 3.3 percent for 

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